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30 April 2012

Posted on Apr 30, 2012

Criticisms omit crucial context

April 29, 2012

MormonVoices

Claims of Mormon racism that rely on repudiated notions and out-of-context quotes are evidence of religious bigotry that seeks to deny Mormons an equal standing in society. Bigoted attempts to label The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as racist often stem from political or theological motives, not a commitment to truth or equality. The attacks rely on dishonest tactics that distort or ignore the complete story.

One illegitimate tactic is use of an error known as “proof texting.” That is, one may use a short quote that, read in isolation, seems to support the argument. But when one understands the full document and its context, it becomes clear that it actually doesn’t support the argument at all. For example, starting from the 15th century, many Europeans and colonial Americans justified slavery by quoting the Bible’s report that a “mark” was placed upon Cain, saying that Africans are Cain’s descendants and inherited the “mark” in their dark skin tone. However, neither that passage nor the rest of the Bible say anything about the mark being overall skin tone or being inherited. The proof text is a superficial and false argument, and in this case has done incalculable harm.

MormonVoices Decries Use of Proof-Texting in Attacks Against the Church

April 30, 2012

PR Web

MormonVoices, a volunteer group dedicated to correcting misstatements and misinformation about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has published a statement decrying the opportunistic accusation that Mormon scripture condones racism. Some critics, knowingly or not, have recently popularized arguments that rely on proof texting, a logical error that takes a passage out of context and purports to prove a point that cannot be fairly supported.

“The Mormon church is not racist, and recent arguments that it is are incredibly irresponsible or disingenuous,” said Scott Gordon, a managing director of MormonVoices. “It is simply false to say that the verses of scripture quoted prove racism.”

MormonVoices Decries Use of Proof-Texting in Attacks Against the Church

April 30, 2012

Houston Chronicle (Texas)

MormonVoices, a volunteer group dedicated to correcting misstatements and misinformation about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has published a statement decrying the opportunistic accusation that Mormon scripture condones racism. Some critics, knowingly or not, have recently popularized arguments that rely on proof texting, a logical error that takes a passage out of context and purports to prove a point that cannot be fairly supported.

“The Mormon church is not racist, and recent arguments that it is are incredibly irresponsible or disingenuous,” said Scott Gordon, a managing director of MormonVoices. “It is simply false to say that the verses of scripture quoted prove racism.”

The annual FAIR Conference of scholars, apologists, and interested individuals will meet August 2-3, 2012, at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. With the presidential campaign in full-swing and upcoming Republican nomination of Mitt Romney, the Mormon Moment continues. There have been thousands of articles from around the world dealing with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has influenced Mitt Romney’s life and politics.

The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, commonly known as FAIR, will host speakers and other experts who will discuss many of the topics and questions that have arisen as a result of Mitt Romney’s campaign. Among other hot topics and important issues to be discussed this year are questions regarding Mormonism and Blacks, Mormon women, polygamy, troubling aspects of Mormon history, and the difficult issues surrounding gay marriage. Start planning now to attend the annual FAIR conference.

The annual FAIR Conference of scholars, apologists, and interested individuals will meet August 2-3, 2012, at the South Towne Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. With the presidential campaign in full-swing and upcoming Republican nomination of Mitt Romney, the Mormon Moment continues. There have been thousands of articles from around the world dealing with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has influenced Mitt Romney’s life and politics.

The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, commonly known as FAIR, will host speakers and other experts who will discuss many of the topics and questions that have arisen as a result of Mitt Romney’s campaign. Among other hot topics and important issues to be discussed this year are questions regarding Mormonism and Blacks, Mormon women, polygamy, troubling aspects of Mormon history, and the difficult issues surrounding gay marriage. Start planning now to attend the annual FAIR conference.

Ed Emmett, the Harris County Judge who also serves on the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Management, believes that the Mormon Church is “a huge asset like no other in times of crisis.”

“The Church produces 250,000 jars of peanut butter for the Houston food bank alone, but they do so much more,” Judge Emmett said. “They have a warehouse here that’s already got food. As soon as they know that there’s a storm in the Gulf, they start loading 18-wheelers in other parts of the country to bring relief supplies in.”

In times of crisis, Judge Emmett’s office determines who in the community needs help and where they are and then directs government and private resources to provide relief. Serving in this capacity is no small task as Harris County is the third most populous county in the nation with over 4 million people. It was as he prepared for disaster relief that Judge Emmett first found our Church.

A balmy day in Houston was the perfect setting for a community Preparedness Fair held April 28 in Fort Bend County in west Houston. The fair was organized by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church and was open to the public.

“Disasters don’t stop at the boundaries of our Church” said Charles Sudholt the event organizer for the Church who was eager to involve the community.

Recently on CNN Joel Osteen shared that he believed Mitt Romney and President Obama were Christians. Now I am not the one who judges their souls,…… I would like however to address the Mormon faith and warn people to be very careful on how far we stretch the word Christian….

What do Mormons believe about God?

Mormons claim that God the Father was once a man and that he then progressed to godhood (that is, he is a now-exalted, immortal man with a flesh-and-bone body). (1 – ESV Study Bible article on religious cults)

According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Doctrine and Covenants, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also;” but “The Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.”

There are people out there who won’t vote for Mitt Romney just because he’s a Mormon. Which is really unfortunate. Well, actually, it’s more like dopey. While there are certainly plenty of good reasons to not vote for Romney, the fact that he’s a Mormon just isn’t one of them. After all, the Founding Fathers were quite clear that there should be no religious test for public office — and flunking someone simply because he is a Mormon pretty much counts as a religious test.

It’s also dumb because of the numbers. Since there are so many distinctly different sets of religious beliefs in this country and around the world — and if any one of them is actually what you might call “right” — then most of the other people in the world must be “wrong.” So at an absolute minimum, two-thirds of all the people living today must be “wrong” about religion. And since being “wrong” is statistically so common, the self-righteous zealots should really consider giving an earnest guy like Romney a little bit of slack.

Gov. Schweitzer’s remarks underscored the left’s animosity not toward polygamy but toward Mormons. Every poll that breaks down Americans’ views of Mormonism by political party shows that, on average, the more liberal a person’s politics, the more likely he is to have anti-Mormon bias.

In a 2011 poll, Gallup found that 27 percent of self-identified Democrats said they would not vote for a Mormon of their own party for president. Only 18 percent of Republicans felt similarly. Polls by Quinnipiac and Pew have found similar disparities.

A Pew poll found that 31 percent of Democrats and 23 percent Republicans said they would be less likely to support a Mormon candidate. It also found that 41 percent of liberal Democrats said they would be less likely to support a Mormon candidate.

These numbers may explain why most of the media’s anti-Mormon rhetoric has come from the most liberal outlets, including the New York Times and MSNBC.

Megachurch Pastor Joel Osteen isn’t backing away from recent remarks about Christianity and Mormonism, even as he held a huge ‘Night of Hope’ celebration in the nation’s capitol.

“When I hear Mitt Romney say he believes that Jesus is the Son of God — that he’s the Christ, raised from the dead, that he’s his Savior, that’s good enough for me,” Osteen recently told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Mega-church Pastor Joel Osteen declared on Sunday “being gay is a sin,” but insisted he does not discriminate against homosexuals, adding he believes Mormons are “true Christians.”

His exclusion of gays from certain facets of Christian life does not extend to Mormons, however, calling them “true followers in Christ.”

“I don’t believe that Mormonism is traditional orthodox Christianity,” he said. “I realize there’s differences there, but I go back to when I hear Mitt Romney and some of my Mormon friends say, ‘I love Jesus. He’s my savior. I believe he was raised from the dead.'”

April 28th was a big day for San Diego. Three organizations known for their volunteerism all chose THIS day to serve in their communities. “I Love a Clean San Diego”, The Rotary Club and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined together to clean up local canyons and creeks. This day commemorates the annual Statewide Mormon Helping Hands Day of Service and the Rotarians at Work Day of Service. Two-hundred eighteen local members of The San Diego East Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the La Mesa Rotary Club volunteered at six sites chosen by the Creek-to-Bay Clean-up Program. They removed debris, weeds and trash; and cleared vegetation and cut trees for three hours on Saturday morning. Participants ranging from small children to senior citizens put on the signature Mormon Helping Hands yellow vests and the dark blue Rotarian logo shirts and went to work in creek beds, along roadsides and down in the canyons.

On Saturday, the DAR joined with local members of Mormon Helping Hands and soldiers from the base to knock out and remove broken windows, tear out old hot water heaters and yank up ripped carpeting.

The group started in the cool of the morning, took a break for lunch, and continued as heat built up in the afternoon.

“There’s still a lot to do,” Wood remarked while walking from one work site to another. As Mayhue’s “community liaison,” she has her eyes on other projects around the base uncompleted for lack of manpower or funding.

She relied on her faith, played mind games and recited poetry to help pass the time until rescuers arrived, she said.

“I prayed a lot and derived comfort from it,” said Grover, who is Mormon. “I thought God would do everything possible to help me overcome my stupidity. I learned from my mother that things can always be worse.”

I urge everyone who is about to cast a vote for Mitt Romney to do some reading up on the Mormon faith, educate yourselves about this faith. They believe they can one day become like God and own their own solar system and manage it. They are truly the wolves in sheep’s clothing the Bible warns us about in latter days. They are the false prophets. Obama isn’t any better though, a man of deception and lies, our real choices have dropped out. Our nation is doomed if Romney or Obama are elected president in 2012.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s march to the nomination proceeded largely without strong backing from the conservative Christian community.

Instead, it helped propel Rick Santorum to victories in 11 states. It’s long regarded Romney as too moderate and too willing to change his views for political expedience. And his Mormon religion is off-putting to many.

Third, Romney’s Mormonism is an issue for some. A few generations ago this would have been a massive problem for Romney, and not just among Evangelicals. But times have changed, and many Evangelicals have been deeply affected by the pluralism that our nation seems to have thoroughly embraced, thus if they could be convinced that someone can restore the Judeo-Christian ethic of a by-gone era (not to suggest Romney has actually promised to do this) they’d gladly support him, even if he is a Mormon. For this reason, Romney’s religion is the least of his problems with Evangelicals.

After doing his bit for Obama’s dopey “War on Women” narrative by assaulting the President’s female critics with the most vulgar language imaginable, Maher signed himself up as a suicide bomber in the War on Mormons, dismissing Mitt Romney’s immense annual contributions to charity by saying, “All his charitable donations are to Mormons. He gives to his cult. That’s not charity. They’re not poor people.”

Maher’s profanity-laced anti-Mormon tirade got him reprimanded by no less than Paul Begala, a top Democrat strategist, who pointed out the Mormon church “does a lot of good for poor people.” Furthermore, as NewsBusters points out, while Romney donates over twice as large a percentage of his income to charity as most people in his income bracket, only a little over half of it goes to the Mormon church.

The university took down the Facebook page because of that, he said by email. “A number of people who had no affiliation with the university” used the page “to air their grievances and to engage in conversations that violated our policies with regard to social media etiquette.”

Loeffler said she objects to the platform the commencement address will give to Romney’s Mormon religion.

“My objection is religious. It’s not political,” she said. “Liberty trained us that Mormonism is a cult.”

The Republican candidate, 65, is a descendent of Miles Archibald Romney, a carpenter from Penwortham, who moved his family to America in the early 1840s.

He was among the first Britons to convert to the then new faith of Mormonism, after hearing missionaries tell of how Jesus Christ had come to the US.

But Mr Romney’s ancestors arrived in Illinois to find their new religion persecuted for its polygamous habits, when men take multiple wives, by both Christians and an American government suspicious that the Mormons intended to start an independent religious state.

Numerous community leaders, educators, parents and youth will speak out for acceptance and love for LGBT youth, including active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the request of Alex Smith, a candlelight vigil in memory of Jack Reese will be held at the conclusion of the event.”

Lately in the news, there seems to be a softening of the hearts of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints toward the LGBT community, especially after the backlash of support for Proposition 8.

LDS Bishop Kevin Kloosterman’s talk on homosexuals in the LDS Church, which was given on 11/6/2011 had stirred up contraversy, and resulted in this apology, according to Mormon Stories Podcast.

NOTE: This is posted for those who are interested in keeping abreast what is being said around the world about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. MormonVoices cannot and does not guarantee the validity or truthfulness of any information reported. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of this information lies with the reader. As all information comes from other news sources and has not been independently verified, MormonVoices cannot guarantee or be responsible for the security of links in the clipping service. MormonVoices will attempt as much as possible to exclude news articles containing strongly offensive language or which lead to offensive images, but cannot guarantee that some will not slip through.

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